Enough About Us, What Do You Think of Us?

     At B Direct, we do plenty of email marketing. It's fast, it's inexpensive. Sent to the right audience with the right creative and the right offer, it can be very effective. 

     We recently received an email solicitation from Opal Financial Group, the self-described "leading organization in coordinating premier financial conferences globally."

     It appears that we are being invited to attend a financial conference. In the banner of the email, set up as a Q&A, Opal explains "Who attends ..." with a list of potential types of attendees. Well, we're sorry to report that we are not a Family Office, Money Manager, Private Equity Manager, Hedge Fund Manager or Pension Fund Manager. Sadly, after the agency's first decade, we are not High-Net-Worth individuals either. (Not yet at any rate.) So, this particular email was not sent to the right audience. Strike one.

     In terms of creative, the email breaks a cardinal rule of direct marketing copy. Where, oh where, is the magic word "You?" 

     You appears — only twice — in the call-to-action: You can also visit www.opalgroup.net, and in the opt-out disclaimer: If you would prefer not to receive any further emails from Opal, please click here. Meanwhile, the email uses an awful lot of real estate promoting the company. The copy doesn't explain the benefits of attending these events. But, that's probably okay because the list of events, appearing in dark grey type on a brown background, is practically impossible to read. Creative? Strike two.

     Which leaves us with the offer. The email gives us two choices: Register Now and Information Request. Both drive us right to a form. Unless we were the target audience (we weren't) and/or the creative was compelling (it wasn't), we certainly weren't going to invest the time to fill out a form. More marketing conversation is definitely needed. Strike three.

     The b's at B Direct give this email a thumbs-down. Eight events in one email? It's trying to do too much and in doing so, doesn't achieve much at all.

Testing, One, Two

     As cost-conscious direct marketers, we are always interested in clever hard-working mail formats. Recently, the agency received a self-mailer from Vocus, a PR software company. It did a good job explaining the benefits of the product and offered a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card if we were willing to sit through a presentation. The piece included an attached die-cut BRC. This reply card when opened, created an asymmetry that would encourage the recipient to pull it off. All in all, it was a nice, tidy little package.

     Then, two days later, we received another one.

     It was the exact same size, same stock, same die cut. But, there were no graphics on the outside and the return address didn't include the company's name or logo.
     Inside, the two packages had the same copy practically word-for-word. The typography was slightly different and the second, blind package had a photo of a woman (not sure whether it was supposed to be the Vocus rep or a customer).

     If this is a test, then the only element being tested is the design and whether a bind return address helps or hinders response. Seems like a lot of trouble for very little learning.
     The b's at B Direct give the package(s) (we prefer the one with the company's name and the pretty circles on the outside) a thumbs-up. But, as far as receiving essentially the same campaign twice in two days is concerned, we're still a little confused.